Record container



June25, 1946. DI 1 2,402,746

RECORD CONTAINER a Filed Oct. 25, '1944 musk-vau- BY 52/ e ATTSLRKEYS Patented June25, 1946- RECORD CONTAINER Herbert Goldlch, Springfield, Mass, assignor of one-half to J. Clayton Flax, Springfield, Mass.

Application October 25, 1944, Serial No. 560,327

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to improvements in containers for phonograph records or the like.

The invention may be incorporated into a phonograph cabinet or it may be, and preferably is, used separately in place of the usual record album of the type that has hinged leaves with record pockets therein,

The invention has for its general object to pro vide a record container which is simple in construction, cheap to manufacture and compact and which provides for the automatic projection of the records partially out of the container, when the cover of the container is opened, whereby the records may be conveniently selected.

The invention has for another object to provide a record container in the form of a simple box with a plurality of partitions therein to form record compartments together with spacing pieces between adjacent partitions, some of which pieces form forwardly sloping floors, one for each. of the record compartments, and some of'which form stops, onefor each of the record compartments, to limit the forward rolling movement of the records, when the cover is open.

' The invention has for another object the provision in a record container of the class described of a plurality of partitions which are free to move laterally toward or away from one another adjacent their front and upper portions for the purpose of enabling the partitions to be manually spread apart to facilitate insertion of the records into the compartments and to avoid binding of the records and partitions in case either the partions or the records are warped.

The invention will be disclosed with reference to the acompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view of the record container with the cover closed; Fig. 2 is a similar view with the cover shown open and partly broken away;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sectional views taken on the lines 3-3, 4-4 and 5'-I of Fig. 2 and drawn to a larger scale;

' Figs. 6 and '7 are small scale. perspective views of the partitions used in the container, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modified form of partition.

Referring to the drawing; the record container includes a box-like receptacle of any suitable material having parallel side walls i and 2, parallel top and bottom walls 3 and 4, respectively, and parallel back and front walls 5 and 6. The front wall I forms a cover and is hinged to the bottom wall 4 in any suitable manner, as for example by the strap 1. The cover 6 may be releasably held 63 2 in closed position by any suitable fastening means and, as herein shown, is provided with a snap fastener element 8 to be engaged by a mating fastener element 9, carried on the free end of a strap III, which is secured to the inner face of top wall 3.

The container described is divided off into a plurality (twelve as shown) of record-holding compartments by a plurality of partitions I I and I2. Each of these partitions is rectangular and of thin section. As shown each partition is of slightly less area than the side wall I or 2 and it abuts the bottom wall 4 and back wall 5 but is spaced from the top wall 3 and cover 6. The partitions may be made of cardboard or any other suitable material. To provide for twelve record compartments l3, eleven of the partitions are used-six partitions II and five partitions l2,,in alternating arrangement. Adjacent side wall I is a partition H and adjacent side wall 2 is a partition ll, thus forming the two end. compartments i3 of the series. The remaining compartments are each formed between a partition H and partition l2.

At the bottom of each compartment I3 is a triangular piece I! which abuts rear wall 5 and bottom wall and extends forwardly from the rear wall over about two-thirds of the bottom wall. Thispiece ll provides a sloping floor for the rec- .ord compartment. At the front and lower corner of each compartment i3 is a stop piece [5, which limits the-extent to which a record II can roll forwardly whencover 8 is opened, as will be clear from Fig. 2. In the rear upper portion of each The pieces ll,

compartment i3 is a spacer ijl. i5 and II are fixed to and on opposite sides of each partition II. The partitions I! carry no such pieces. 'I'he'series of six partitions H and five partitions l2, when assembled in a stack, are thrust into the container and closely iitbetween the side walls i and 2, being held .in place by frictional engagement An alternative arrangement consists in using ten partitions, such as H (Fig. 8), which have the pieces I 4, l5 and I1 fixed on only one side thereof, and then to use a single partition II as an end member of the series.

A small strip I8 is suitably fixed in the lower front portion of the container, covering up the front ends of all the pieces I! and bearing a series of consecutive, numbers, such as 1 to 12, or any other desired designations, for the twelve record compartments i3. On the cover 6, an index l9 may be provided, showing the records located in each. compartment.

easily be inserted into the compartment.

The operation will be clear from Figs. 1- and 2. The records I 6 rest on the forwardly sloping floors provided by the pieces H and roll forwardly until they rest against the closed cover 6. When this cover is opened, all of the records roll forwardly until they are arrested by the stops ii. The records are then projected partially out of the container, as shown in Fig. 2, so that they may be readily grasped. The cover 6 will lie flat against the table, on which the container is supported, and expose the index l9. Having found from this index the compartment in which the desired record is located, one selects from proper numbered compartment, the desired record. When a record is to be replaced, the two partitions II and H, which form the sides of the desired record compartment l3, are manually spread apart enough so that the record It may The upper front corners of the partitions are preferably unsecured, as shown, to enable. the partitions to be'spread apart for the above purpose. It is also desirable not to have these partitions rigidly fixed for the reason that the'records are sometimes warped and yielding of the partitions laterally is required to avoid binding. Also, the partitions themselves may'warp and it is therefore desirable that they be free to yield laterally if and when required. It is also preferable to have these partitions terminate far enough below the top wall of the container so that one may gain access to their upper edges for the purpose of spreading them apart whennecessary.

The invention provides a record container whichis simple in construction and capable of being manufactured in quantities at low unit cost. The container is simply a box with a hinged cover and a fastener. The partitions are simple rectangular pieces of cardboard with the floor 4 sembled into a stack are simply thrust into the container and are thereafter held in place by frictional engagement. The container is compact and its volume is not very much greater than that of the twelve records plus the necessary thin separators suchas the partitions H and II. The construction nevertheless provides for the automatic projection of the records, caused by opening the cover, to enable convenience in selecting the records.

What I claim is:

A container for records or the like, comprising, a box having a bottom, a top, upstanding parallel side walls, and upstanding front and back walls, the front wall forming a cover movable to open or close the container, a plurality of partitions of resilient material within the container paralleling the side walls and forming between them and between the end partitions and said side walls-a plurality of record compartments, and spacing pieces between adjacent partitions and between the end partitions and the side walls, some of said pieces forming floors one for each compartment and sloping forwardly and downwardly toward the cover, the cover being so disposed when closed as to hold all the records in a retracted position, other of said pieces forming stops one for each compartment near the lower front portion thereof to limit the forward rolling of the records down said floors when the cover is opened, said partitions and spacing pieces abutting one another and closely fitting between the side walls so as to be held in place by frictional engagement, said partitions terminating short of the top wall and being free for lateral movement at their upper front comers, whereby they may be spread apart to enable easy insertion of records and whereby they may yield when required if the records or partitions pieces, stop pieces and spacer pieces attached (0 are warped.

thereto, as by gluing. These partitions, when as- I-IERBERT GOLDICH. 

